Funny, how often do you read on the diagonal? Actually in a proper system the vertical and horizontal are the same number and thus the diagonal would be the same as well using the rule of congruent triangles.

Depending on who you ask to define "resolution". The number of pixels in width and height are meaningless IMO. What truly counts is how many pixels per inch of diagonal.

I think if you stop and think about that for a bit, you'll realise it is a bit silly.
A 40" 1980x1080 TV is pretty crappy then, having only about 55 ppi?
While my BlackBerry, at 480x360 @ 244 ppi, would be better for reading magazines on than the iPad Mini at 1024x768 @ 162 ppi?

The iPad Mini has the same resolution as the original iPad.
An original iPad held further away will give exactly the same visual image as an iPad Mini held closer. (I can't be bothered to work out the exact difference in distance required.)

As people don't sit within 1 foot over their HDTVs, that is a thoroughly ridiculous statement. Heck, at around 5 feet a 1980x1080 tv can arguable be considered retina on a 40" display. It's all about size and viewing distance.

I think if you stop and think about that for a bit, you'll realise it is a bit silly.
A 40" 1980x1080 TV is pretty crappy then, having only about 55 ppi?
While my BlackBerry, at 480x360 @ 244 ppi, would be better for reading magazines on than the iPad Mini at 1024x768 @ 162 ppi?

The iPad Mini has the same resolution as the original iPad.
An original iPad held further away will give exactly the same visual image as an iPad Mini held closer. (I can't be bothered to work out the exact difference in distance required.)

Here's the data from another thread, the difference is 4", but I'm not sure how accurate the numbers are:

So in theory the above listed devices would have to be held at least as far from the eye as the listed distance before the average human retina would no longer see any individual pixels. Your eyes, of course, will vary.

Here's an article about HDTV and retina screens. The data there is slightly different, but the same idea:

Quote:

The iPhone 4 with 326 PPI is a Retina Display when viewed from 10.5 inches or more
The new iPad 3 with 264 PPI is a Retina Display when viewed from 13.0 inches or more
The MacBook Pro with 220 PPI is a Retina Display when viewed from 15.6 inches or more

Since I hold my reading material more than 20" away from my eyes (I was curious so I got out a tape measure) anything with 160+ ppi is retina for me. Heck, my 130 ppi laptop is retina too, since the screen is more than 2 feet from my eyes. 326 ppi sounds impressive, but it only matters if you want to squint at your phone a few inches from your nose.

The presumption that seeing a pixel is the end of the world is silly anyway. Compared to reading the fuzzy print in an old paperback even a low resolution screen is clearly better.

As people don't sit within 1 foot over their HDTVs, that is a thoroughly ridiculous statement. Heck, at around 5 feet a 1980x1080 tv can arguable be considered retina on a 40" display. It's all about size and viewing distance.

That was exactly my point. It was a reductio ad absurdum.
The iPad Mini is the same resolution as the iPad, and would look the same, if held slightly closer.

Since I hold my reading material more than 20" away from my eyes (I was curious so I got out a tape measure) anything with 160+ ppi is retina for me. Heck, my 130 ppi laptop is retina too, since the screen is more than 2 feet from my eyes. 326 ppi sounds impressive, but it only matters if you want to squint at your phone a few inches from your nose.

Interesting. I had to get a measuring tape out as well, and when I'm reading comics and magazines, I hold the iPad roughly 12-14 inches away from my face.
I certainly saw a huge difference going from the iPad (1) to new iPad (3), which fits with the table you gave.

Interesting. I had to get a measuring tape out as well, and when I'm reading comics and magazines, I hold the iPad roughly 12-14 inches away from my face.
I certainly saw a huge difference going from the iPad (1) to new iPad (3), which fits with the table you gave.

Lot's of pdf bashing here. PDFs have some nice features. First, it's an open standard ( ISO 32000-1:2008) with free readers & generators on a variety of platforms. That's huge. Second, pdfs are predictable and consistent from device to device. A word processor or html doc will look different from machine to machine. Unfortunately, that consistency means if the pdf is somehow suboptimal for a particular device, it's harder to get optimal output.

For the most part, pdfs are formatted for printing on standard paper sizes. There's no reason they have to be formatted that way. One can just as easily generate Apple Ipad mini-sized pdfs. For example, i've been reading a Japanese pdfs formatted for the Sony Reader. These look pretty nice. (PDF is also the only way to get vertical Japanese text on my reader.)

Lot's of pdf bashing here. PDFs have some nice features. First, it's an open standard ( ISO 32000-1:2008) with free readers & generators on a variety of platforms. That's huge. Second, pdfs are predictable and consistent from device to device. A word processor or html doc will look different from machine to machine. Unfortunately, that consistency means if the pdf is somehow suboptimal for a particular device, it's harder to get optimal output.

For the most part, pdfs are formatted for printing on standard paper sizes. There's no reason they have to be formatted that way. One can just as easily generate Apple Ipad mini-sized pdfs. For example, i've been reading a Japanese pdfs formatted for the Sony Reader. These look pretty nice. (PDF is also the only way to get vertical Japanese text on my reader.)

And therein lies the problem, most PDFs are formatted for A4 or Letter, and being non-reflowable format, PDFs don't display well on 6" (and though OK, not great on 10" either), and hence make for a poor reading experience. The "bashing" you refer too is not for the format per-se, but how it renders on small screen readers.

And therein lies the problem, most PDFs are formatted for A4 or Letter, and being non-reflowable format, PDFs don't display well on 6" (and though OK, not great on 10" either), and hence make for a poor reading experience. The "bashing" you refer too is not for the format per-se, but how it renders on small screen readers.

Indeed! I made the mistake of downloading a PDF library book to read on my PRS-650... and I couldnt. I had to re-borrow in epub format. Wont be downloading pdfs again, and I'll keep my pdf viewing in Goodreader on the iPad.